The Whole Sector

The Bassa Veronese industrial cluster is noted for the way in which companies are structured, as they are very fragmented. In 1988 statistics showed that 92.52% of producers were still very small operations, practically one-man operations (1-3 employed) or small businesses(3-9 employed); with a prevalence of the former (60.4%).

Companies in the district can be divided into two groups:
1. market led companies
2. companies who do contract work for third parties

The first group is comprised of companies who are export orientated. There are those who retail and then there are those who use agents to sell their goods.

- Companies who export 70% of their production abroad, account for about 13% of these market led companies;

- 33% of these market led companies sell directly to the public. These are the "one-man operations" (as mentioned above) or "craftsmen" and represent one tenth of "industrialised production" .

- Companies who take on agents to sell for them are the most numerous. These are small sized companies or craftsmen who are only concerned with producing the furniture and don't have the professional background to do the marketing and sales. This they delegate to outside sources, namely to agents and representatives.

The second group is comprised of companies whose production is 70% contract work done for third parties.The categories in this group include:

- industrial sub-suppliers, that is large manufacturers sufficiently industrialised but work for third parties (in 1988 they represented only 1% of contractors)
- artisan sub-suppliers (representing 30%)
- one-man operations (this is the most consistent group, representing about 69% of contractors)

Sources: IL MOBILE IN STILE DELLA BASSA VERONESE IRES VENETO VENETO